What is the meaning of marriage? The political fault lines that have emerged in the last election on the question of same-sex marriage suggest that there is no consensus on this issue. This article looks at the meaning of marriage against the backdrop of the same-sex marriage debate. Its focus is on the opposition to same-sex marriage. Drawing on the work of some leading conservative thinkers, ...

Racial and ethnic differentials in marriage are large and may contribute to maintaining inequalities. Previous research identifies economic factors, particularly low levels of employment stability and earnings, as important contributors to depressed marriage rates among blacks. Yet group differences in employment and earnings do not offer sufficient explanations for race and ethnic variation in...

The authors analyzed whether the effect of marriage on recidivism varied by spousal criminality. For this purpose, they used propensity score matching and full population data from Statistics Denmark on all unmarried and previously convicted men from birth cohorts 1965-1985 (N = 102,839). The results showed that marriage reduced recidivism compared to nonmarriage only when the spouse had no cri...

CONTEXT The relationship of national laws that prohibit child marriage with the prevalence of child marriage and adolescent birth is not well understood. METHODS Data from Demographic and Health Surveys and from the Child Marriage Database created by the MACHEquity program at McGill University were used to examine the relationship between laws that consistently set the age for marriage for gi...

Since the 1990s, inter-provincial female migration for marriage has become important in central and eastern rural China. Using survey data from X County in rural Anhui Province, we explore the arrangement of inter-provincial marriages, as well as the characteristics of husbands and wives, marital satisfaction and marital stability for these marriages. We find that inter-provincial marriage is a...

This article explores the pattern of early marriage in Africa. It focuses on the sub-Saharan region as an area with the highest rates of early marriage in the world. The harmful effects of early marriage are explored in terms of impact on the health, education and economic well-being of young girls. The paper outlines a framework for analyzing global, regional and local initiatives to curb earl...

Are cohabiters different than married couples who cohabited before marriage? This study used the 2002 wave of the National Survey of Families and Households to determine how work behavior might differ for 4 relationship types: (a) cohabiters with uncertain marriage plans, (b) cohabiters with definite marriage plans, (c) premarital cohabiters who recently married, and (d) premarital cohabiters m...

This article argues that marriage has undergone a process of deinstitutionalization—a weakening of the social norms that define partners’ behavior—over the past few decades. Examples are presented involving the increasing number and complexity of cohabiting unions and the emergence of same-sex marriage. Two transitions in the meaning of marriage that occurred in the United States during the 20t...

This paper discusses the interest in and politics surrounding government's using welfare reform legislation to carve out a stronger role in promoting marriage. It examines trends in family formation, their impact on society, and the effect of single parenting, divorce, and step-parenting on child well-being. The paper also looks at the treatment of marriage in current government programs, new s...